Booking a Guar. room.

[sassy~one]

Has this every been a bad way to book? Your thoughts please and thanks debbie

[cruising cockroach]

Justed book my first HAL cruise. Went for GTY because that was the best deal. Started with BC on a Prinsendam repo. Received a private sale for a AB GTY at the same price as the BC. Hoping not to get an AB due to various reported problems with them.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There are quite a few people here who have done guarantee cabins and many of them have gotten some nice upgrades -- others were offered upsells.

We prefer to book the cabin that we know we will be happy with and not have any unexpected surprises.

[jtl513]

Has this every been a bad way to book? Your thoughts please and thanks debbie

We've done 8 guarantees out of 14 HAL cruises and always were assigned a higher level cabin than we paid for. Only once was I less than fully pleased with the location, but DW thought it was fine. We have a 9th guarantee booked.

[sassy~one]

Thank you so much.

[George C]

I like them never have been disappointed, normally we book the lowest level suite , need to be sure you will be happy if you get what you paid for.

[jtl513]

You should always look closely at all cabins you could be assigned, and be sure you would be reasonably happy with any of them. For example: you didn't say what ship you are considering booking, but on the Eurodam if you book a VH or VF you could be assigned a VT with the standing-only balcony.

 

Also on the Eurodam you could book an SY or SZ guarantee and be given one of the two SU staterooms with a very small balcony that is also steel-walled for the most part.

[canadarocks]

You should always look closely at all cabins you could be assigned, and be sure you would be reasonably happy with any of them. For example: you didn't say what ship you are considering booking, but on the Eurodam if you book a VH or VF you could be assigned a VT with the standing-only balcony.

 

Also on the Eurodam you could book an SY or SZ guarantee and be given one of the two SU staterooms with a very small balcony that is also steel-walled for the most part.

 

You are a wealth of valuable information. :cool:

 

We will be on the Eurodam and we've been upgraded from a specific Inside J to a Guaranteed VC. Are there any veranda cabins that we should be wary of at this point?

[jtl513]

We will be on the Eurodam and we've been upgraded from a specific Inside J to a Guaranteed VC. Are there any veranda cabins that we should be wary of at this point?

You could be upgraded again, but it's unlikely. I would be happy with any VC when I paid for a J! :)

 

If you were upgraded to one of four VA cabins (4053, 4054, 4129, 4132) you would get a 14 ft deep balcony, but most of it would be exposed to view from above.

 

You could also be given a SZ next to the glass elevators or the SU that I mentioned before, but in those cases the extra space would more than compensate for me!

[canadarocks]

You could be upgraded again, but it's unlikely. I would be happy with any VC when I paid for a J! :)

 

If you were upgraded to one of four VA cabins (4053, 4054, 4129, 4132) you would get a 14 ft deep balcony, but most of it would be exposed to view from above.

 

You could also be given a SZ next to the glass elevators or the SU that I mentioned before, but in those cases the extra space would more than compensate for me!

 

Thanks, it's awesome how much you know about specific cabins. Oh and believe me I am THRILLED with the VC upgrade.

[Shippy]

...than some of the prior posters.

The only time to book a guarantee is when the cost savings is really worth it.

Also, watch what catagory you pick. We have done this on all cruiselines, in fact we just booked a suite guarantee on the Westerdam.

Some past experiences...

A guarantee called 'run of the ship'. Sounds good in theory because you could get any catagory. We could not find out our cabin assignment until we got to the dock. It was the worst cabin on the ship. Low deck, right over the anchor chain & thrusters. The noise was unbearable. Just like hotels which all have a 'bad' room....someone has to get it. You have no recourse so make sure you saved enough money on the deal.

 

A balcony guarantee. Once we were assigned a handicapped room & once a blocked view to the right side because of the way the ship was built.

 

An outside room guarantee....the window looked directly into the lifeboats.

 

Last year we took a suite guarantee on the Oasis of the Seas & were given a fabulous room on the 'hump' part of the ship with a double size balcony, so you never know.

 

The guarantee we just booked on the Westerdam was half the price of picking a cabin in that room catagory....well worth whatever we get. We are one month out & still no assignment so I do not know if they will make us wait until we get to the dock. Sometimes you get your assignment within a few hours of booking.

[sassy~one]

The ship is Statendam and its a OV cabin. The inside on OV were the same cost. Thinking the PC, 14 nights. IM excited but have to talk hubby into it.

 

: )

[catl331]

Sometimes you get your assignment within a few hours of booking.

I've never heard of that happening on a HAL gty. Usually they're assigned 21 days to 7 days out, sometimes not even until sailing day.

 

The ship is Statendam and its a OV cabin. The inside on OV were the same cost. Thinking the PC, 14 nights. IM excited but have to talk hubby into it.

 

: )

Personally I wouldn't book a gty less than a BC on any R or S class ship for fear of getting one under the galley. Once (when we didn't know any better) was enough. On the Statendam I would choose a specific cabin on the Lower Promenade under the MDR, or a D or DA on the Main deck.

[sassy~one]

I've never heard of that happening on a HAL gty. Usually they're assigned 21 days to 7 days out, sometimes not even until sailing day.

 

Personally I wouldn't book a gty less than a BC on any R or S class ship for fear of getting one under the galley. Once (when we didn't know any better) was enough. On the Statendam I would choose a specific cabin on the Lower Promenade under the MDR, or a D or DA on the Main deck.

 

What is the problem with the galley? well under the galley? thanks

[sassy~one]

Also is there a list of what the D or DA type of rooms there are? I do not understand what that means.

 

I know Inside, ov, ect, just not the D or Da

 

thanks so much

[jtl513]

What is the problem with the galley? well under the galley? thanks

 

Also is there a list of what the D or DA type of rooms there are? I do not understand what that means.

 

I know Inside, ov, ect, just not the D or Da

 

thanks so much

There is a large potential for noise from the galley - all night long! :eek:

 

D and DA are types of OV that are in the center of the Main deck: 533 to 654. There's also some D's on the Lower Promenade that are good IMO. The four D's across the stern (418, 419, 420, 421) are 1 ft wider than the normal OV cabins, and they feel a bit roomier.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/main/DeckPlansFull.action?ship=sa_2&deck=m

[readytogo2]

Our very first guarantee was with HAL in 2004...we booked 3 insides and got 3 oceanviews all next to each other...we were more than pleased :)

[Audi]

A few years ago we booked an Inside guarantee cabin on a Princess cruise and received a partially obstructed view outside cabin. We still call it our "Cruise from Hell". It was situated directly above a lounge that stayed open until 2:00 AM. Even with earplugs (which I never travel without) the percussion pounded in my ears for hours. We complained after the first night but the ship was full and they were unable to move us. They, in fact, denied that it could be noisy because "no one ever complained before". I called the desk the following night to no avail. On the third night I got out of bed at around 1:00 A.M., dressed and went down to the desk to complain. The ship was also having a late-night band party on the lido deck so I had to wait quite a while to talk with someone because they were answering complaint calls from the cabins below the lido deck. I even heard someone from guest relations tell a guest that "she could not understand why the person was complaining because she was the only one who had called". They must be trained to tell guests that sort of thing. Anyway, I was able to get the manager of guest relations to come with me to hear how loud it was and he agreed that we did indeed have a problem. The next day we were moved to a veranda cabin and the rest of the cruise was great. But by then we had already lost three nights of sleep.

We moved back to HAL and have had good luck with guarantee cabins. On our next cruise the HH Fully-obstructed cabins were the same price as the cheapest inside cabin so I didn't have to think about it for very long. We leave in less than two weeks for our next cruise and just got word that our HH cabin has been upgraded to a nice C cabin. Looks like it is in a good place on the ship.

HAL seems to get a lot more middle-aged and above passengers who, like me, do not stay up until 2:00 AM., so I am not as worried about noisy areas. Still, I guess my advise would be do whatever makes you comfortable.

[Viesczy]

We prefer to book the cabin that we know we will be happy with and not have any unexpected surprises.

 

^ quoted for truth.

 

We too know that there are great deals to be had if going with the gty, but just the chance of landing in a room next to/beneath/above the kazoo and bag pipe jamboree rehearsal hall precludes us from going with the deal. When spending our $, I want to be sure that it is going to be spent on what we want, where we want it and how we want it.

 

Plus knowing where we are going to be for w/e period of time allows me to learn/know the ship layout from that location prior to boarding. I know that sounds a little OCD, but if something happens and we're in near 0 light I like to be prepared. Yeah, I'm a little nutty.

 

Derek

[KirkNC]

So not counting the upgrade aspect what would one expect as a discount for a qty? The times I have looked there wasn't any discount compared to a specific cabin in the same class.

[gregdude]

My first HAL cruise was guarantee and it was not a good experience. As others have said you may end up in a cabin that no one wants because of location, noise, movement, engines, and a host of other issues. I MUCH prefer to know where I am going and be certain I am in a really good location.

[cmaygar]

I've booked guarantees (verandah) and had great upgrade opportunities to upgrade to a suite guarantee for only $150 per person the two times that I did this. I've read a number of posts from folks that were not satisfied with the cabin that they received with a guarantee, but this would depend on the popularity of the particular time of year and itinerary. It is a gamble, but I've been lucky the two times that I booked a guarantee.

[travelinjones]

We almost also book a guarantee and have always been upgraded at least a few categories.

 

If you are flexible about your stateroom it is a terrific way to save money and get upgraded to a higher category than what you paid for, but you do have to realize that you are going to potentially get any cabin within that category or higher, and you don't have a choice of which one.

 

 

IF you are picky about the location of your stateroom, then DON"T book a guarantee -- book the exact cabin that you want and be happy!

[jtl513]

So not counting the upgrade aspect what would one expect as a discount for a qty? The times I have looked there wasn't any discount compared to a specific cabin in the same class.

On HAL, there never is a price difference whenever both a guarantee and specific cabins are both available at a given level. After the choice of a specific cabin is no longer possible the price sometimes drops on the guarantees.

 

I don't know about other lines.

[SeaBands]

toget the larger balcony.Now we book SY and get a larger balcony and cabin for not much more. Location has not been a problem.